This is Tech

Who would have thought that manipulating amyloid-beta precursor proteins could be fun? Foldit, a game developed by University of Washington students along side professional game developers, is designed to harness the collective brain power of gamers for the purpose of making advances in protein science:

Can humans really help computers fold proteins?

We’re collecting data to find out if humans’ pattern-recognition and puzzle-solving abilities make them more efficient than existing computer programs at pattern-folding tasks. If this turns out to be true, we can then teach human strategies to computers and fold proteins faster than ever!

(Via Kotaku.)